THE camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay said the latest Social Weather Stations survey results showed that their candidate had solid core support that is steadily growing.
The survey, conducted from Feb. 5 to 7, showed Binay ahead with 29 percent, followed by Senator Grace Poe and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, who had 24 percent each.
Administration bet Manuel Roxas II was in fourth place with 18 percent, while Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago had 4 percent.
The SWS survey had 1,200 respondents with a sampling margin of error of ±3 points.
Binay’s political spokesman, Rico Quicho, said the vice president would work even harder to convey his ideas on how to address poverty.
“As the campaign period progresses, the vice president remains focused on his message that competence, experience in governance, and compassion are the key factors to fight poverty and provide jobs, quality education, and healthcare services,” Quicho said.
Poe’s camp said they would use the survey findings as a guide to their next moves.
“We use the surveys to constantly take stock of our campaign strategy and moves,” Poe’s camp said in a statement. “We will continue going around the country to personally meet with the people and lay down our platforms and agenda on how best to serve the Filipinos. With the support of the people, our zeal is undiminished and we remain grateful for our people’s continued trust.”
Poe’s spokesman, Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian, added that part of the campaign message would be to reinforce that Poe was still a candidate despite pending disqualification cases against her.
Poe’s running mate, Senator Francis Escudero, vowed to work harder after the latest survey showed him tied with Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for the top spot.
“It means we have to work harder and, given our limited resources, find innovative, yet not-so-expensive ways to reach our more people with our message of hope and progress,” Escudero said in a text message.
Escudero was the consistent frontrunner in the vice presidential race until the latest SWS survey.
Marcos said every result inspired them to work harder in the campaign.
“But as I have always said, the real survey will be on May 9, 2016 and that has been our focus as we continue to persevere in bringing our platform of unity to every part of the country,” he said.
The Roxas camp said they were not “overly concerned” with his fourth place showing.
“You can see in the SWS survey that the competition is really stiff. It’s 80 days before the elections, and fluctuations are to be expected,” said Roxas’ spokesman Barry Gutierrez.
“If you look at the surveys, whether it’s Pulse, whether it’s Laylo, or SWS since November, the clear message is that many of our countrymen are still undecided. It’s still anybody’s ball game so with three months to go we’re confident that we can raise our numbers and win the polls,” he added.
At the same time, Gutierrez played down the possibility that members of the Liberal Party might jump ship, given Roxas’ poor poll numbers.
“Why jump to the camp of other presidential candidates if you’re not so sure that they’ll win in the end?” he said. “I have full confidence that our allies and friends will stick [with us] until the end [of the campaign].”
Members of the Binay and Duterte campaigns have insinuated that there would be mass defections among administration allies as Roxas continued to fare poorly in all the surveys.
In a Facebook post, Peter Laviña, spokesman for Duterte, said Sunday that allies of Roxas are ready to defect to Poe to save themselves from the sinking Roxas ship.
But Gutierrez said this would not happen as Roxas had the advantage on the ground.
“We have more leaders who support Secretary Mar, and our organization of volunteers and civil society associations are the strongest. We have our networks on the ground. So in a very tight race, I think that would be our best advantage,” he said.
He added that the surveys were not based on the reality on the ground but relied mainly on popular perceptions. With Macon Ramos-Araneta and John Paolo Bencito